The BPM Festival Report – Part One

Deep House Amsterdam was represented at the BPM Festival by our very own Lex. In this first part of the BPM festival report he covers the SCI-TEC, Wisdom of the Glove & Culprit parties and much more. Check it out!

I was looking at the line up for BPM Festival near the end of 2013, sucking in the atmosphere from the amazing pictures of last year and remember thinking: “Whatever it takes, this year I’m gonna be there”. So a week before the festival I bought a plane ticket, arranged some accommodation and 2 press passes for me and Luis Leon. I packed my bag after New Year’s Eve and made my way to Mexico. When I arrived at Playa Del Carmen after a long trip with a delay in Atlanta, I was immediately treated to a rainshower that lasted the first few days. So much for that Mexican sun.. But nonetheless, the temperature was in the comfortable 20+ degrees and the line up for Saturday the 4th was looking good.

That night upon my arrival I hooked up with some friends and acquaintances with who I visited SCI+TEC, where Hot Since 82 was one of the headliners, Wisdom Of The Glove with Guy Gerber, Cassy, Martin Buttrich and Tennis and tasted a bit of the Mexa vs. OFFRec. party. At SCI+TEC we were waiting for the b2b set of Dubfire with Maceo Plex, but due to family issues Maceo unfortunately could’t make it to BPM this year. Nevertheless, we had Hot Since 82 in front of us and he was one of the stars of the Blue Parrot that night. Next up: the Coco Maya Beach Club, which was right next to the Blue Parrot, where Wisdom Of The Glove was already in full effect. When we entered Cassy was playing and the crowd was deeply into it, with heavy dancing, drinking and lots of romance all around. The venue looked amazing, with different spots to hang out and chill, and enough room to dance until the sun would rise, and then dance a little more after that. Due to a jetlag we had to bail after Cassy’s set.. and we had enough days to go! Eight to be exact.

The second day we skipped the daytime events and relaxed on our beautiful rooftop, where a bit of sun showed up for about 3 hours, which was a treat already. This all to be fully prepared for a night with great showcases from No. 19 Music at Coco Maya and Wolf + Lamb at TABU. TABU went off that night like there was no tomorrow. It was without a doubt one of my favorite events at BPM. I loved Nick Monaco and Navid Izadi, two talents that you should definitely keep an eye out for, who played absolutely mesmerizing sets. In the meantime we popped over to Coco Maya, which luckily was across the streets, to see one of my recent heroes: Eric Volta. His set was dripping the characteristic future sound that he is now known for. The crowd were eating his tracks up like hot cakes. The heavy rain that night didn’t seem to bother people at all and only added to the fun they were already having. The b2b set of Art Department and DJ Three was quite a special one as well. But with No Regular Play about to start at TABU, we hurried the hell back with our rum-cokes in our hand to see the duo play an awesome live set. Their set was unbelievable and just blew me away. If you have a chance then be sure to check it out on be-at.tv. Due to Tanner Ross not being able to make it, Navid and Nick played b2b after ‘No Regular Play’ and drew a magical close to the night.

While we already skipped two daytime parts of the BPM Festival, we couldn’t miss out this time on day three. So after a quick sleep: shower (well, actually a dive in the jacuzzi), coffee, a shot of Mezcal aaannnnd we were good to go. The Culprit party was where we started and where we had some of our favorites lined up, Adriatique, Matt Tolfrey b2b Jozif, Droog, Climbers and Shall Ocin. We knew this had to be good one, and ohh Lord it was! The whole day was a treat and unlike the bad weather, people were dancing like it was a tropical beach party. The closing set by Adriatique was burning hot, which was no surprise but yet confirming their top form. These boys just keep getting better and better. Also heads up for Culprit for always delivering the goodie goodies wherever they go.

Later that night we got to the Blue Parrot early to see our very own Dutchie Boris Werner at Circoloco. It was ON like Pete Tong right from the start and the place was packed after 30 minutes in. Is this a Mexican habit or was it Boris’ set? Because the mood was already there, it was an easy job for The Martinez Brothers to take over and give the high-octane crowd what they deserved. After the Martinez Brothers we ran off to see Catz ‘N Dogz play at their very own Pets Recordings Showcase, another great event with people going absolutely wild. The place was fireworks, with Heidi keeping things steady after that.

What happened next, kind of got lost in a haze by yours truly, but don’t worry, in part 2 more experiences like the showcases by Life & Death, Diynamic, the EPIC closing party and more are covered: PART II on BPM Festival